சிறகுக்குள் வானம் (பாரதி புத்தகாலயம்)

இருட்டு வணிகர்கள் ஏதேனும் சொல்லட்டும் வெளியே உலகம் வெளிச்சமாகத்தான் இருக்கிறது. நிறையும் குறையும் நெஞ்சில் இருக்கிறது. எது நெகிழ்ச்சி அளிக்கிறதோ அதுவே மகிழ்ச்சியளிக்கிறது.

Balakrishnan is a postgraduate in Tamil Literature. He is the first student of Tamil literature to clear the Civil Services exam. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1984. His initial postings in the Tribal areas of Odisha triggered his interest in Indology, Anthropology and Place-name Studies. It was Iravatham Mahadevan who led Balakrishnan into the area of Indus Studies. Balakrishnan has published several research papers on Place-name Studies, Odisha’s history, and it’s plural culture.

Using Geographical Information System tools he formulated the‘Korkai-Vanji-Tondi Complex’, a place name complex in the Indusgeography which was formally announced in 2010. His paper on High-West: Low-East Dichotomy of Indus Cities and it’s linguistic paradigm gained wide attention. His Tamil book on the Dravidianfoundations of Indus Civilization received accolades from Iravatham Mahadevan as the best book written in Tamil on the subject.

Balakrishnan is an author, poet and has published several books in Tamil. After thirty-four years of service with the Government of Odisha and the Government of India, he retired from the Civil Services in 2018. He is currently the Honorary Consultant of the Indus Research Centre of the Roja Muthiah Research Library, Chennai.